WEHT
WEHT is an ABC affiliate in Evansville, Indiana. The station is owned by Gilmore Broadcasting Company, a subsidiary of Gilmore Enterprises. It's the last remaining broadcasting property under Gilmore ownership, which @ it's peak, included 5 TV stations, 9 radio stations & 19 cable TV systems in 9 states, including WEHT. While it's licensed to Evansville, it's studios & transmitter are co-located across the Ohio River in Henderson, Kentucky. The station uses the branding "News 25". The station, the tri-state area's 1st TV station, went on the air on Ch. 50 on September 27 1953, as a CBS affiliate with a secondary ABC affiliation. It was owned by the Malco Theater Corporation of Memphis, Tennessee; minority interest was held by several Henderson businessmen for the 1st year. Hilberg Packing of Cincinnati bought the station in 1957 & Gilmore bought it in 1964. It dropped ABC in 1956 after WTVW signed on. With FCC approval, it switched to ch. 25 in 1964 soon after Gilmore bought the station. When WTVW moved to FOX in late 1995, WEHT took over the market's ABC affiliation. On August 25 2008, WEHT became the Evansville area's RTN affiliate; RTN programming is broadcast on DT ch. 25-2 & is branded as RTN TV 25. Notable personalities ; Brad Byrd : WEHT's lead news anchor has been with the station since 1978, when he became 1 of the youngest TV news anchors in Indiana @ the age of 26. During his tenure @ News 25, Byrd has won several awards for his work, including 2 regional Emmy awards & 2 Edward R. Murrow awards. Byrd was inducted into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame & the National Academy of TV Arts & Sciences Silver Circle Hall of Fame. In addition to his on-air duties @ News 25, he has written a column entitled "Second Thoughts" in the Evansville Courier & Press newspaper. ; Shelley Kirk : Shelley joined News 25 in 1989 & reported for several years before being promoted to anchor in 1994. She currently co-anchors the weekday 5, 6 & 10 PM news. Highlights of her years @ News 25 include reporting from the White House Oval Office, covering a local case before the U.S. Supreme Court & following the Habitat for Humanity housing blitzes of '92 & '95. Shelley also serves as co-host of the annual Easter Seals & Santa Clothes Club telethons. She stays active in several local causes, including Habitat of Evansville, Easter Seals & the American Cancer Society. ; Wayne Hart : Wayne Hart has been the station's Chief Meteorologist since 1993 (succeeding Mike Maguire). In 2005, he became the 1st TV meteorologist in the Evansville market to become a CBM, a designation given by the AMS. Prior to becoming a CBM, Hart had held the AMS' Seal of Approval since 1987. Like Brad Byrd, Hart has won a regional Emmy Award. Hart received his Emmy in 1998 for "First Warning to Severe Weather," a prime-time special on the subject of severe weather preparedness. ; Lance Wilkerson : Lance is the only TV sportscaster that can call the Tri-State his home. He was born & raised in Newburgh & attended Castle High School. He then moved on to Ball State University, where he graduated with a major in telecommunications. After working @ the station as an intern out of college, he became a news photographer in August 1993. A year later he became the weekend sports anchor. In July 1998, Lance was named Sports Director of News 25. Lance has won numerous awards, including the Distinguished Service Award from the Indiana Interscholastic Athletic Administration Association & the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches' Association Outstanding Media Award. News 25's Home Team Friday sports show won the honor of Best Sports Segment from the Associated Press. Newscasts At one point, in early 2000s WEHT produced a 9 PM newscast for then-WB (now The CW) affiliate WAZE-TV. The program was cancelled due to low ratings. In 2007, WEHT discontinued it's Midday (11:30 AM) newscast in favor of paid programming (infomercials), leaving the station without a competitor against WFIE's hourlong "Midday with Mike" newscast & WTVW's "FOX 7 News @ Noon." However, WEHT began airing a newscast @ 4:30 PM on September 10, 2007. Until August 25 2008, the station's news programs were simulcast in their normal timeslots on DT subchannel 25-2, along with a repeat of the 6 PM news @ 7 PM. However, when RTN programming debuted, the newscasts & weather radar on 25-2 were eliminated. Notable WEHT Alumni *Jacqui Jeras - now a CNN Meteorologist *Allison Hatcher - now @ WKRN in Nashville *Jonathan Weaver - now a Vanderburgh County Assessor *Bill Weber - now @ NBC Sports *Nischelle Turner - now @ KTTV in Los Angeles *Paul Emmick - former TWC Meteorologist, now @ WDRB in Louisville External links *WEHT, News 25's Website *RTN TV 25 schedule & information *Gilmore Enterprises, parent company of WEHT Category:Wdhn